Vertagear Gaming Series Triigger Line 350 and 275 Reviews

Thankfully, sitting in either of these chairs is a very rewarding and comfortable experience. There's a number of reasons for this, but first up is the mesh that makes up the bulk of the back and base. It provides a near-perfect balance between soft and firm, making it comfortable to rest against, supportive of your limbs, and flexible enough that it adjusts to the contours of your body. The main benefit, though, is how breathable it is. Even in the UK, the summer months have the odd warm day, and it's on those days that the heavily cushioned gaming chairs are at their sweaty worst – the design here, meanwhile, really is a benefit if you're gaming or working all day.


Now, the problem with a review like this is it's hard to get a real gauge of longevity. Certainly, the chair materials feel excellent. We're told the mesh is reinforced with DuPont TPEE (thermoplastic polyether ester elastomer), making it resistant to high temperatures and heavy hydraulic movements and supposedly prolonging elasticity and lifespan. The chairs also use real leather coverings for the side sections ('top grain calfskin', if you're interested), and while we don't necessarily get much of a kick knowing that a calf died for our sits, the leather quality does seem excellent, but it will need looking after well in order to stay that way. Even the stitching is neat and tidy, while the aluminium alloy used for the frame and base and the steel alloy that makes up the mechanical parts all combine to make a chair that weighs over 20kg, feels exceptionally strong, and carries an impressive 10-year warranty. Basically, as far as we can tell, this is a chair that's built to last.


The two chairs differ slightly in support for the width and weight of occupants, although both cater to most users and are very non-restrictive, generally speaking. The 350 is the larger with a 500mm wide seat, a backrest that's 466mm wide in the lumbar area and 495mm wide around the shoulders, and it supports a higher weight too: 180kg. The 275's seat is basically the same width, but lumbar and shoulder widths are reduced a little to 445mm and 478mm respectively, while weight tolerance drops to 150kg.


Once seated, those triggers are really rather nifty. They won't make you pull off headshots any better, but they are undeniably convenient and easy to use. Squeezing the right one releases the gas piston and allows for height adjustment of up to 90mm. On the left one, you pull once to unlock the tilt mechanism, and when you've found a suitable position you squeeze again to lock it in place. Tilt is restricted to a sensible 33 degrees through 22 individual positions.


The arm rests are suitably wide and again offer a great compromise between soft and hard. These can be adjusted too; you simply pull upwards to move the arm through a few different locked heights (pull all the way up to unlock the mechanism and push it back down) or rotate the arm rest to point inwards or outwards – again, all this takes is a bit of force.


Protruding from the bottom is a knob that controls tilt tension, and the rotation mechanism is again dead simple to utilise. It can be extended too for easier access.


Neither chair comes with a cushion or a headrest. The former is fine, as cushions are usually just a means of making up for poor lumbar support, whereas these chairs have this built into the backrest, so your spine gets some proper help. However, not having a headrest at these asking prices is harder to swallow, especially as reducing shoulder and neck strain is genuinely practical. A multi-functional headrest for the 350 is sold separately, although it's again pricey at $70. This is roughly £54 excluding VAT, but it doesn't appear to be sold widely here. You can opt for the Triigger 350 SE, a special red and black edition that includes the headrest, but then you're looking at £800. There are no such options for the 275, however. Overclockers UK has exclusively let us in on a little secret, however, which is that it will be stocking headrests for both chairs within the next three months. It will also look into pricing options that may see them offered free of charge or at a discount when purchased with a chair, but isn't able to promise anything at this stage. We can but hope!


Vertagear uses hub-less casters for both chairs, and these are 65mm across and sport a metal ball bearing mechanism. Gliding isn't as smooth as it could be, but it's not bad. You can upgrade to 75mm wheels, although these are included as standard on the 350 SE mentioned above. A rubber silencer is used to cut down on noise from the wheel shaft when gliding, and this seems to eliminate wheel rattle well.


Both chairs are quite flexible in the ergonomics department, featuring a button on the underside that unlocks seat depth adjustment to help cater to your specific leg length.


The backrest of both chairs can be adjusted too, although the 350 has the better and more complex one. For the 275, you get height adjustment of the entire rest, and this works like the arm rests – pull up to move it through a series of positions, and pull all the way to the top to unlock it and move it back down. For the 350, however, the lumbar support bit is padded and more prominent, and it can be height-adjusted independent of the backrest as a whole. Two buttons at the sides, meanwhile, let you adjust the backrest angle. If proper lumbar support is most important to you, the 350 could well be worth shelling out extra for in the long-run.

Conclusion

As the two chairs were passed around the office, they were met universally with admiration. They seem to have an instantly recognisable high level of comfort and support even before the price tag is unveiled – a crude blind test, to be sure, but something worth noting nonetheless.

Paying this much for a chair still seems crazy to us, but we speak as people who have never bothered to invest much in this area of our lives. We're not sure the Vertagear Triigger chairs change this, but they've certainly given us pause for thought. The marketing is a bit ridiculous, and sadly it belies the professional design that prioritises ergonomics, ease of use, and quality above looking like something a teenager would love. The mesh is perhaps our favourite part – we've had a few warm days recently, and it's really shown its worth already. One thing's for certain, which is that both are absolutely a cut above the chairs we saw in our previous roundup in virtually all areas. Perhaps a sample from Herman Miller, for example, would cast these in a dimmer light, but for now we have to admit we're impressed, and the 10-year warranty is very reassuring when you're dishing out this much cash. If you happen to be looking to make a proper investment in the chair you use every day, Vertagear makes a very compelling case for itself with these chairs, even if it confusingly appears to hide that behind silly gamer talk, and we'd have loved to see headrests included as well - here's to hoping we see some movement from OcUK in that area soon.